Somali refugee grieves for mother he watched drown

As Malta celebrates Mother's Day today, 16-year-old Mohamed Mohedi's thoughts will go back to the last time he saw his mother, almost a year ago, when he watched her and his five brothers drown.

Not a day goes by that he does not remember his lost family, with images of them crying for help as they drowned in the Mediterranean haunting him at night.

"I still see them in my dreams, crying and reaching out to me to help them, not to let them go down. But I could do nothing for them," he told The Sunday Times, the sadness etched on his face aging him.

Like so many other people from war-torn countries, Mohamed and his family wanted to reach Europe to try to build a better life for themselves. But the loaded boat was unstable and the sea too rough and in July last year the immigrants found themselves thrown in the water.

"They could not swim," he recalled pensively. Not a good swimmer himself, Mohamed was able to keep his head above water and fight for his life until he was picked up by a passing ship.

Loss was not new to Mohamed, then just 15 - when he was a child, his nine-month-old sister was shot dead by thieves. The family fled to Libya where they lived for some 12 years, but Mohamed said it was not a good life and the family wanted something better.

As other refugee children and mothers celebrated Mother's Day with a small party at the Emigrants' Commission yesterday, Mohamed sat quietly to one side. Today will be a difficult day for him, especially since he is completely on his own in Malta.

His only living relative, his grandfather, lives in the United States and Mohamed hopes to join him soon.

"I have nobody. I have no family. He is all I have and I want to be with him," he said. He eagerly waits for news from the US Embassy about his future, hoping that a better life awaits him in Seattle.